


I Don't Know What I Was Expecting But It Wasn't This

by SerialObsessor (ibelieveinturtles)



Series: Soul to Soul [3]
Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Television Watching, WinterShock - Freeform, modern television
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-16
Updated: 2016-09-16
Packaged: 2018-08-15 07:45:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8048155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ibelieveinturtles/pseuds/SerialObsessor
Summary: Bucky is traumatised by modern television





	I Don't Know What I Was Expecting But It Wasn't This

**Author's Note:**

> a sequel/follow on to 'You Have To Start At The Beginning'

 

 

She gave him an appraising look, “You're Steve's friend, right?”

“Yes.” he said cautiously, waiting to see how she would react. If she knew that much, she probably knew a lot more too.

“And you've kinda spent a lot of time asleep, like he did?”

“Yes.” he replied again, still waiting for the other shoe to drop, and for her to run away screaming.

“Okay, sorry, I was only checking cos Jane and I have missed a lot lately, too busy with all her wormhole stuff to take much notice of the world. We got a crash-course on the way over, but honestly, I fell asleep about ten minutes into Natasha's lecture, so I missed most of it. Which is also why I'm awake right now. So, let me just get this set up, and then we can make a start.”

“So what exactly is this that we're watching anyway.” he asked, allowing himself to relax into the lounge next to her as she set the television up.

“It's a television series based on a series of epic fantasy books. You know, swords, dragons, magic, strange creatures... stuff like that.” she told him as she got the first episode ready to play.

He thought about it for a moment, then remembered a book he'd read, a long (just a few years?) time ago.

“Like The Hobbit?” he asked.

“Ah yes, but no? Sort of?” she replied. “It's way more adult than The Hobbit. More so even than The Lord of The Rings.”

“What's The Lord of The Rings?” he asked.

She gaped at him for a moment, then smacked herself on the forehead. “I gotta remember that you missed a whole lotta shit whilst you were sleeping.” she said. “The Lord of The Rings trilogy is the sequel to The Hobbit, but with less talking animals and more fighting. Tolkien kinda based it on his experiences in the war.”

“Wait, so there's more hobbit stories?” he asked, latching onto something he understood as he shifted slightly in his seat so he could get a better look at her.

“Oh, so much more, he wrote a bunch of histories and other stuff too. And they made movies. So many movies.”

“The Hobbit got made into a movie?” he couldn't quite process how anyone could've managed that.

“Yeah, three movies actually, and three for Lord of The Rings too.” she said, squinting up at him in the darkness of the room.

“Huh, I really liked that book.” he mused.

“Me too, maybe we can watch them next.” she smiled up at him, “So are you ready for this?”

“I'm ready for anything.” he smiled back at her.

 

 

When a knocking on the door woke Steve up in the small hours of the morning, he was only a little surprised to find that his best friend wasn't in the room any more. Neither of them needed a lot of sleep, but he hadn't expected Bucky to go wandering around an unfamiliar house in the middle of the night quite so soon. He opened the door to find a vaguely familiar looking young woman standing there looking worried.

“I'm really, REALLY sorry, but I think I broke your friend.” she said.

 

 

He found him in the darkened lounge room, staring at the blank screen of the television.

“Hey Buck, you okay?” He leaned against the back of the lounge and waited patiently for his friend to answer, having learned during their recent travels that Bucky often liked to think things over thoroughly before commenting. Finally, his friend turned his head and asked, “What happened to the world Steve?”

“What do you mean?” Steve asked cautiously.

“The music, the movies, television... it's all so...” he trailed off.

Steve nodded, he had a pretty good feeling he knew what Bucky was worried about. “Some of it can be a bit...” he wondered what the best word would be – confronting? Unusual? Outlandish? Ridiculous? Then there were words like violent, graphic, lewd, obscene... he settled for “different.”

“I met my soulmate last night... this morning...” Bucky said.

“What??” Steve had not been expecting that. “Who is it?”

“Her name's Darcy.”  
Steve thought for a moment. That was why the girl at his door looked familiar. “Thor's friend?”

Bucky shrugged, “Didn't ask why she's here. She was watching the television. Very enthusiastically.”

Steve grinned, “I've heard good things about her.” he offered, then it clicked. “Wait, so you finally found out what five and three quarter seasons is?”

Bucky looked up at him then, and Steve was surprised at how traumatised his best friend looked.

“It's called A Game Of Thrones, and it's terrifying Steve.”

Steve was extremely proud of himself for not laughing. “It's a really good show actually, very popular, and it's won quite a few awards.”

Bucky twisted in his seat so he could look at Steve properly. “Have you seen it Steve? When the last movie I remember watching had Judy Garland in it, that was a bit of a shock. Why are they allowed to put that stuff on the television where anyone could watch it?”

“Oh Buck...” it was really hard to not laugh.

“I think I scared her away Steve.”

“From what I've heard it'll take a lot more than you to scare her.” Steve assured him.

“But... I didn't like her show.”

Steve sighed a little, “Well, why don't you ask her if there's something a little less.. confronting... for you to watch together, maybe you could work up to trying Game of Thrones again later.”

He could see Bucky turning over the suggestion in his mind, looking at it from all angles as he gave the idea consideration.

“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.” he gave a small, self deprecating laugh. “Who'd think The Winter Soldier would be put off by a show on the television huh? There goes my reputation.”

“I'll make sure I mention it to Sam.” Steve said, and Bucky glared at him.

“Um...” they both turned to the voice in the doorway. Darcy waved at them, and then held a book up.

“I found this in my things for you, I thought, well, maybe you might like to read the book instead...” she trailed off, looking from face to face. Steve smiled, and pushed off the lounge to make room for the young woman as she came into the room. She held the book out cautiously as Bucky stood up and took it from her.

“Thanks,” he said, “and I'm sorry if I scared you.”

“What? No! You didn't scare me. Don't worry about it.” she said with a wide grin, waving her hand at him. “However...” her face shifted a little, looking both guilty and hopeful at the same time, “can I finish watching Season Six if you're not ready to catch up yet?”

Bucky and Steve exchanged glances, and then Bucky smiled, “Yeah, I think you should do that.”

“Oh good.” she said, “in that case, you.” she pointed to Bucky, “go read the book, and you,” she pointed at Steve, “just... go. Well go on! I've got an hour and a half of emotional torture to watch!” She hustled the pair of them towards the door, and as they exited, she grabbed Bucky by the hand, and pulled herself up to give him a quick peck on the cheek. “After this, I'll find something we can watch together.”

 

As they went back upstairs, Bucky looked closely at the book he'd been given. “This book is huge Steve.” he commented.

“That's only the first one Bucky. There's four or five more after that, and he hasn't even finished writing them yet.”

Bucky considered this as they went back into their room. “Lucky I don't need a lot of sleep then.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> My theory is that Bucky wouldn't have watched much television or movies between Winter Soldier and Civil War. Television didn't become a Thing until after the war, and we all know what old movies are like!


End file.
